Observe Ember Weeks
is the final Cursillistas "studio" album, momentarily lost to time as
Herbcraft took flight, now finally seeing a brief light-of-day. Written,
recorded, and mixed concurrently with Wasp Stings (Digitalis), Joint Chiefs (Digitalis), and several small-run/tour-only releases between 2007-2009, O.E.W.
touches on elements and styles of all these while also marking a return
to a more song-based rural folk psychedelia. Nylon-string minor-key
folk-pop commingles with naive noise experiments, breathless first-take
improvisation, multi-tracked "full band" jams, wah'ed fuzz guitar
abandon, electric slide glide, heavy tom-thumps & tambourine
shakes, all presented with Cursillistas' trademark rich reverb treatment
and multi-layered vocals. This is perhaps the peak Cursillistas
experience in all its bedroom glory, the fitting final chapter to a
project that never stayed still for too long, and the definitive
collection of the tunes that made up much of Cursillistas' live set from
2007-2009. Deluxe 150-gram virgin black vinyl held in a 4-color,
5-layer silkscreened art paper jacket, with two-sided full-color
pro-printed glossy heavy stock insert, hand-numbered to 225.

One of the most gifted abstract sonic pilots from the vacationland stable, Portland, Maine artist Matt Lajoie still enjoys a larger than Sasquatch reputation for his free folk personality and unpredictable takes on Spectrasound techniques. Although he and his merry band are perhaps one of the most charismatic tribes of the New England underground *** dig, you GOTTA see him/them live *** they blossom from psychedelic occurrences that often lead to bursts of pacifist oblivion which can only be redeemed inside their studio output. The momentum Lajoie deploys in his polar expressions indicates a supply of time manipulated balance. An accretion of bucket brigades warping wildly at first breath, generally considered a condition of primitivism (long may we carve!), this is searchlight abandonment with purely spirited jams more akin to the tapers pit than slam continuance. In fact the only thing slammed here (other than the muted poetry echoing like buoys in Golowin's harbor) are the "in the red" meters on fire signs from fire music providing ease with earth, wind and air. Long may we inhale.

This is a heady atmosphere, an atmosphere for heads, and it not only delivers the contempo dreamlike aspect at the apex of its form, but transcends it to those revolving with them. Take this fucker for a spin."

- Matt Valentine / snowy Vermont 2011

"This is a vastly complex album where Matt has attempted to explore some radically new ideas from those of the first album whilst still remaining true to that Herbcraft sound. In fact what comes across most of all is that this harks back to a time when records were made for the sole purpose of being that ‘classic long player’, where the songs themselves, the running order, the side A/B split and the artwork are all carefully considered to deliver an album with an underlying concept which is to be listened to as a single cohesive statement. Overall, a major statement from this artist with a combination of mantra jams, wild psychedelic guitar and ambient drones which develop a number of underlying themes. To seal the deal I love the kaleidoscope artwork in the style of Pink Floyd’s Piper At The Gates of Dawn. Well worth spending some time with this album, a real keeper for sure. It’s highly recommended.” – Andrew Ross, Volcanic Tongue.

After bearing witness to a couple mind-blowing live sets by these
psychedelic truth-seekers, we are complete converts to Concord Ballet
Orchestra Players’ cause and are proud to bring their epic analog debut
double-cassette audio-tome FANFOS to the physical realm.
Concord Ballet gathers together a crew of the Boston-area’s finest
kraut-worshipers, space-rock psychonauts, and in-the-moment free-improv
experimentalists onto a single sprawling stage, resulting in a wide
variety of heady cinemascope-worthy jams. Documenting CBOP relatively
early in its existence, FANFOS suggests a particularly
wide-open canvas and technicolor palette of possibilities (ghostly
theremin, flute, casio banks, electric guitar divinations, grooving
basslines and edge-of-seat drums), leading the listener down
prismatically-varied paths as the band navigates thru the
perpetually-manifesting “now”. Ranging from brief mysterious vignettes
to majestic side-long mindscapes, these tracks were recorded with a
fly-on-the-wall live quality that doesn’t omit tripped fire alarms,
off-mic sneezes, or stumbles, all of which reveal concord ballet to be
devout believers in authentic improvisation and psychedelia. Expertly
mastered by Greg Davis and pro-duped onto premium chrome tape, FANFOS
is limited to 75 copies and packaged “audio-book style” in a white
vinyl folder, with pro-printed full-color cover art. Also includes a
download code for a complementary digital copy, for easier
track-by-track parsing of this massive missive.

DELUXE REISSUE OF THE FIRST-EVER L'ANIMAUX TRYST RELEASE, WITH ALL TRACKS RE-MIXED AND PROFESSIONALLY RE-MASTERED FROM ORIGINAL SOURCE AUDIO, AND FOUR PREVIOUSLY-UNRELEASED BONUS TRACKS FROM THE LES BICHES RECORDING SESSIONS ADDED ON. MORE INFO HERE.

"A magnificent creation, the music primitive yet timeless, bells, string and pipes blended into an ever changing whirl of sound, the rustling of autumn leaves or the wind blowing across the moorland. Opening track "The Snake and the Motor" will reel you in immediately, rich and organic, this is music alive with possibilities, your own imagination adding visuals to the musical landscape , the whole album offering escape from the mundane. Elsewhere "Bag of feathers" has ritual qualities buried deep within its grooves, the chanted (Looped) vocals riding joyfully over the percussion, whilst on "Fawns into Does", one of four tracks not available on the original, a rattling Banjo gives the track a ghostly Appalachian feel. All in all, an album filled with adventure and sonic satisfaction." - Terrascope

TEMPERA'S OFFICIAL DEBUT LP OF TWO SIDE-LONG, LONG-FORM IMPROVISATIONS, WITH SMOOTH, BLISSED-OUT AMBIENT PASSAGES BUILDING TO CYMBAL-CRASHING CLIMAXES. PRESSED ONTO CRYSTAL CLEAR 12" VINYL AND PACKAGED IN A SILKSCREENED ART-PAPER "POSTER-STYLE" FOLD-OVER SLEEVE, INCLUDES A CD VERSION OF THE ALBUM WITH BONUS TRACK PACKAGED IN A SEPARATE PRO-PRINTED FULL-COLOR CD SLEEVE. MORE INFO HERE."Pressed lovingly on clear vinyl, Tempera offer two side long explorations of inner space in the shape of glistening drones that are a must for anyone who has watched a seagull glide across clear blue sky, or the summer drift of dandelion seeds. On side two, chiming bells and the rumble of percussion add a more unsettled vibe to the tranquillity, the fall of night or an impending storm conjured up in the music, the piece building into a percussive led tribal ritual before all is still again." - Terrascope

"Excellent, yet hard to describe, free-drone music that feels timeless in its execution. [A]n exotic blend of acoustic clatter and shimmer... The work creates a hypnotic environment around itself, sucking the listening into a spiral of sound. [D]rum and keyboard patterns floating through space, creating a meditative space for the listener to be brought into. The slowed down pace of the album could go wrong very easily, but the group is able to keep just enough movement going to keep things interesting while still maintaining a very subdued atmosphere. I'm intrigued by their ability to sit on the edge of free-folk and cosmic-synth music in such an intriguing way. This is going to be worth tracking down, and it also comes with a cd version of the album with an additional track. Very well done. 9/10." - Charles Franklin, Foxy Digitalis

CURSILLISTAS' FIRST WIDELY-AVAILABLE ALBUM, RELEASED ON CD IN 2008 BY DIGITALIS' ARTS & CRAFTS DIVISION. A MOSTLY-SOLO-OUTING BY MATTHEW LAJOIE WITH SOME OVERDUBS BY NEMO & SPARROW. IMPROVISED DIRECT TO 4-TRACK CASSETTE, WITH SONGS FLOWING TOGETHER IN LOOSE, FAR-OUT, LATE-NIGHT ABSTRACT-FOLK MOVEMENTS. CREATED WITH THE INTENT TO SOUND OUT-OF-TIME-AND-PLACE, LIKE AN OLD REEL OF TAPE DUG UP ON A COLD, DESERTED ISLAND.

"Lajoie's approach here is different. It's as if he's taken the negative space of his previous works and hashed them out and spruced them up until they've become epic, flowing songs whitewashed with a basketfull of analog hiss. The whole thing flows together like magic poured straight from the sky. It's haunting, beautiful music.

Cursillistas' music is often densely populated with a variety of instrumentation and textures. Lajoie is a master at molding sounds from a variety of sources into a cohesive, organic whole. This music, as with past efforts, sounds like an intimate secret whispered in the listener's ear. You feel as though you're being led into a world where very few lucky souls find their way. Lajoie's distinctive voice is the true weapon here, weaving hypnotic melodies over rivers of delicately strummed acoustic guitars. "Wasp Stings the Last Bitter Flavor" is his message in a bottle. It's a love letter to everyone and no one, and there's a lot to love here, that is for damn sure." - DIGITALIS

"A collection of spectacularly warped drone-folk ballads ... this first widely available example of Cursillistas' output is a magnificent sprawl of odd, cavernous percussion interludes, thick vocal nebulae and haunted forest folk guitar plucks. This is set to be an enduring body of work in its own right, capturing sweet, abstract narratives in a lowest-ever-Fi setting, all sounding precariously close to proper songs. After the re-calibration of functionally titled mood piece 'Drone (Groan)', Lajoie sets forth down a path of otherworldly folk and esoteric song warping, with one foot in the outsider undergrowth and the other firmly rooted in more traditional soils. In amongst the musty melodies of snappy pieces like 'Treestain', Cursillistas concoct ten-minute tribal hoedowns like 'Happened In The Sun/Moccasin Stamp', with enjoyable outcomes all round. Capturing Lajoie at his most subdued and contemplative, 'Show Them Love' closes the album in a bath of all-devouring hiss, from which a wonderful, Phosphorescent-style vocally layered song structure emerges. Absolutely gorgeous stuff.." - BOOMKAT Recommendation

DARK, DANK, BLISSED AND PISSED JAMS
FROM A PORTLAND ALL-STAR CAST. MEMBERS OF WHITE LIGHT, TEMPERA,
CURSILLISTAS, VISITATIONS, COMPUTER AT SEA, PLANETS AROUND THE SUN AND
MANY MORE CONGREGATING UNDER THE FULL MOON FOR A GOOD OLE FASHION'D
HOWLIN'. VOCAL MOANS, ANALOG SYNTH TONES, DUELING CRAZY HORSE-STYLE
GUITAR LEADS, AND A CRAZY WASTED DRUM CIRCLE. MIND-MANIFESTING
ALL-ENCOMPASSING IMPROV PSYCHEDELIA FOR EAR-TWEAKED FREAKS - THOSE WHO
GET DOWN WITH AMON DUUL I, SUN RA, YA HO WA 13, AND OTHER
BRINK-OF-SANITY COMMUNE BANDS TAKE NOTE. TWO EXTENDED IMPROVISED PIECES,
PRO-RECORDED BY PETE NANORTES AND LOVINGLY PIECED TOGETHER BY YOUR
EMCEE, IAN PAIGE. 28-MINUTE MINI-ALBUM ON WHITE-TOP CD-R, WITH
PRO-PRINTED INSERT SLEEVE ON TEXTURED ART PAPER AND LIMITED TO 100
UNNUMBERED COPIES.

---------------------------------------------------------

CFE#28: ORACLE OFFERING: BEYOND AQUARIAFORMAT: CS [C-30] // EDITION: 75 // LABEL: CABIN FLOOR ESOTERICA // SOLD OUT"Slow riffs
flicker in the bedroom and join with the whispers of past lives
beneath the floorboards, the fog of the humid summer night bringing it
all together into a cassette storybook. Dawn Marna (the other half of
'Joint Chiefs'-era Cursillistas) sings out bewitching
sacred seance hymns on her first solo cassette (aside from the
fantastic and insanely limited tour split with Cursillistas) and crafts a
set ghostly songs for the last midnight of summer. In an edition of 75
water-color labeled tapes in a wrap around sleeve of art from the
artist, an insert by the artist, and a water-colored numbered cut out." -
Cabin Floor Esoterica

Very limited number of this first new Herbcraft release since last summer's Ashram To The Stars LP! Full-length cassette includes a free digital download of the album.

"Flowering represents some of Herbcraft’s most expressive and exploratory
work to date blending psychedelic pop melodies with some of the most
trashed sounding sonic voyages exploring the arc from the US West Coast
to the Tokyo underground. Minds were blown here at Julia Dream when we
first heard Flowering and we are extremely excited that this is our
inaugural release. Keep the crops flowering." - Julia Dream Recordings

"Mind-blowing tape from the Herbcraft cultus aka Matthew Lajoie of
Cursillistas et al: Flowering was briefly non-available as an edition of
only 12 copies cassette privately distributed amongst friends but the
quality of the sonics so impressed noted Blues scholar and COM
correspondent Andrew Ross that he started up his own deluxe tape
imprint, Julia Dream Recordings, just to bring it to the world. Issued
here in an edition of 69 copies with gorgeous pro-printed sleeves,
Flowering represents the absolute apex of the Herbcraft saga thus far,
devouring genres and regurgitating them as foggy out-of-focus paeans to
oblivion via weeping single note blues delivered with alla the amplified
overdrive of Rallizes or the Far Out. The whole deal starts off with a
dosed/phased F/X vox and ashram vibes tone-float before tripping over
into “Journey To The Center Of Your Hive”, a multi-dimensional transport
that pushes the interstellar overdrive to the max. “Magic Carpet Ride
Hallucination #4” kicks into a streamlined Krautrock groove before
dissolving the whole thing via gate after gate of gloopy F/X while
“Flowers Strewn” is a beautifully lucid take on six-string sorcery ala
Ben Chasny’s most circuitous outings. But it’s “Psychic Spore
Travellin’” that best takes your head off, a totally epic six-string
amplifier-worshipping monolith that tears fuzz and confusion from
wailing steel with all of the void gobbling force of your favourite
Tokyo titan. Throw in a bunch of disconnected downs that sound like
they’re beamed from Skip Spence’s weeping third eye and you have the
most goddamn potent collection of trips und trauma this side of
yesterday. Cassette issue of the year? No question. Comes with a free
download. Very highly recommended. " - Volcanic Tongue
----------------------------LTFR 028: PETE FOSCO: VACATIONLANDEDFORMAT: CS [c43] // EDITION: 75 // RELEASED: 09.13.11 // SOLD OUTWhile electric guitar mangler / vibe-generator Pete Fosco
may call Kentucky home, he is nonetheless a man smitten with Maine.
After a trip up the coast to Acadia and Belfast last summer (which
included a show with MV & EE and Herbcraft at the now-sadly-defunt
Roots & Tendrils), Fosco was so inspired that when he returned home
he sat down in front of some warm tubes, strapp’d on a six-string, and
let rip on some true Vacationland meditations. What we’ve got here are
four extended improvisations/compositions for solo electric guitar, with
Fosco bending, growling, coaxing, and summoning tones with fingers,
slides, and other mystery implements. The sounds evoke dusty winds
streaking across the Desert of Maine, Northern Lights shimmering from
atop Cadillac Mountain, and vertiginous views from Pemetic. Sometimes
sparse (Fosco is a master at the pregnant pause), sometimes as swirling
and dense as a January blizzard, the soundtrack Fosco creates is a heavy
homage to the dark mystery and latent wonder of exploration in the
Maine wilds. Black shell cassettes with hand-painted and typed labels,
held in polybox with full-color, pro-printed insert on vellum, enclosed
in a piece of a vintage map of Maine. Limited to 75.

Following last year’s soft-focus stunner Beyond Aquaria
on the Cabin Floor Esoterica label, Oracle Offering serves up a
full-length cassette steeped in the audio nexus of supernatural horror
and Gnostic pagan ritual. An altar built in honor of tape-hiss, vedic
synth meditation, and full-moon white witchcraft receives a visitation
from a gnarly half-human gang with a taste for female flesh. Lurking
behind the sympathetic string reverberation, airy synth atmospheres, and
cool-breath choral incantation is the heavy hand here to crash the
party: engines rattle, howls are emitted, the coven shrieks, a far-off
church bell chimes. A fully-formed VHS [oc]cult classic with all the
dialogue removed, this cassette is the last thing you want to meet at
the end of a dark alley; a nightmare treasure in the basement of an
abandoned cabin in the woods. Recorded, mixed, and dubbed in a 100%
analog process from start to finish. Hand-labeled opaque lavender
cassettes with full-color pro-printed double-sided j-card, held in a
green-tinted case. Limited to 50.

FORMAT: 2xCS [C-49 & C-55] // EDITION: 25 // RELEASED: 01.25.11 // PRICE: SOLD OUTSAME
ALBUM AS ABOVE, BUT ALSO INCLUDES FIVE HAND-NUMBERED ART INSERTS: A
FILMSTRIP-STYLE COLLECTION OF 24 PHOTOS FROM THE TITULAR "ORGAN
SLAUGHTER" ON A COLD BEACH IN NORTH FALMOUTH, MAINE, FULL-COLOR
PRO-PRINTED ONTO TEXTURED ART PAPER. HAND NUMBERED LIMITED EDITION OF 25
COPIES. DUE TO EXTREMELY LIMITED NUMBER OF COPIES AVAILABLE, PLEASE EMAIL LANIMAUX@GMAIL.COM TO ORDER THE ART EDITION.-----------------------------------------------------------

LTFR 025: JARED FAIRFIELD: MYSTERIESFORMAT: CS [C-29] // EDITION: 75 // RELEASED: 11.09.10 // SOLD OUTAs humble-yet-impressive in vision and execution as any classic
underground album should be, this out-of-nowhere EP from rural Maine’s
Jared Fairfield is so on-point that once it crossed our path we knew it
had to find a home on L’animaux Tryst. Working a four-way crossroads of
pagan ur-folk, Aquarian psych-pop, contemporary underground, and future
sounds, Fairfield moves his remarkable voice thru timeless tune after
timeless tune, faint vapour trails of past skewed-pop classics on the
periphery. Along the way, that voice is joined by deft guitar
fingerpicking, autoharp strums, drone/pure sound, a rich tapestry of
percussion, and even one Sabbath-worthy fuzz bass breakdown, all
composed and arranged with quiet confidence and warm fidelity. The title
track is one of the best singles we’ve heard all year, and once you’ve
moved past that particular earworm, repeat spins reveal new deep visions
like each quarter-turn of a kaleidoscope. Hand-labeled white tapes in
an oversized, pro-printed full-color textured art paper sleeve, tied
closed with wool yarn, hand-numbered to 75..

Ditching the domestic life for a stint of wild-abandon nomad
drift, Planets Around the Sun departed from Maine in July to unplug and
roll on down the line… WE O WE is their
parting gift to the musical community that launched them into new
orbits. Drawing from every era of the band’s career and pointing forward
to new phases, it is a carefully crafted full-length mixtape of past
trysts and future haunts. From the opening acousto-electro instrumental
shimmer we move to a stretched-out heavy drone-folk version of the
classic White Light side “Saraswati”, here completely re-figured with
the addition of guest baritone guitar and cello from local duo South
China. The Ian Paige solo excursion “Agnes” follows, with drones and
steel strings lulling raga moves into your atmosphere; once the tablas
and electric guitar hits, you’re halfway between Demolition Derby and Country Stash, truly a vapor to be savored and returned to often. The B-side hits with “We Owe”, a possession-ceremony standard with netherworld vocal chants circling around watery
bass wobbles and wah’ed synth stabs. This flows into “May Day” and its
extended doom-dub treatment “Version”, moving from Velvety melodic
guitar-scorched psych to a half-tempo high-stepping astral-funk groove.
But enough about the past. Planets point to their present/future with
the closing track, a cracked lo-fi country-folk tune that serves as
their on-the-road calling card. Sure to be a counterculture hit in
22nd-Century America. Hand-written (in white paint) cassettes
held in a case with full-color pro-printed art, featuring a reproduction
of a totally psychedelic needlepoint by Paige’s grandmother. Limited to
75.______________________________________

LTFR 032: ALTERED GEE: EUROPEAN GEESFORMAT: CS [c69] // EDITION: 75 // RELEASED: 09.13.11 // SOLD OUTIt may be counter-intuitive to think of “G-funk instrumentals”
as a possible product of an icy and blizzed-out Maine winter, but holed
up at the House of Hits (aka Hit Factory) in Winter 2011 with an array
of analog synths (SEIL OR 400 for the highs, Moog Taurus II for the
lows) and hip-hop golden-age drum machines (E-mu SP-1200, Drumulator,
and Korg DDD-1), Key Jr. Dee Jay and Slouch formed Altered Gee
amid a thick cloud of purple smoke and didn’t stop making hits til the
tape ran out. Recorded entirely on 8-track cassette(!), the deep-grooved
trunk-rattlers on European Gees ride that line between suave
Euro electro-futurism and dank, dirty, post-Zapp R&B boogie and
G-funk, all stretched out, heavy-lidded and dazed. Weightless,
pitch-shifting, portamentoed synth lines arc over and around each other,
anchored by heavy-bounce syrupy-thick bass and Slouch’s ace
reverbed-out kick’n’clap beats. This is dance music with runtimes long
enough (in the case of “Magnum Opus”, 15+minutes of synth-funk ecstasy)
to get lost in the transcendence of the groove. The song titles say it
all: “Dowsed”, “Funky Airs”, “I Wanna Lay You Down And Feel You Up”…
this is some sexy, fonky shit, ideal for sittin low in your Coupe de
Ville and gettin scandalous in some sweaty bedsheets. 69-minute white
cassettes with individually-chrome-painted and typewriter-engraved
labels, held in a case with full-color pro-printed j-card designed by
the band. Limited to 75.

Way back in 2008, The Wire magazine named Lightning strike
Lightning’s “The Moon” 7” single as one of the top 10 of the year, while
Foxy Digitalis’ Brad Rose remarked that they were “quickly becoming one
of my favorite bands” while naming it the Best 7” of the Year. So
what’s been going on since then? Public silence; private Creepy Power.
After four long years of hermetic writing, recording, re-recording,
editing, mixing, re-mixing, and so on, LsL finally emerges once again
with their second full-length, the follow up to their 2007 disc Turn Myself Into The Ocean.
Many of the original ingredients remain (worldless female haunt-vox,
busted mini-amp guitar growls, tom-violating rhythm tracks, banjo ruffs) but are in service to arrangements that are both
tighter and more expansive. Moments of breathless spectral visitation
bloom alongside forest-folk recitations, bell loops drawn out to
time-bending drone, heavy dirge remembrance, and general free-form
folkery. While the murk of of the previous recordings has been dialed
back a bit on Creepy Power, the gossamer echo chamber that
remains—combined with the slightly-higher-fidelity—makes for a smoother
ride and headier drift; this is one to get lost in. SPECIAL
ONE-TIME-ONLY ART EDITION: Clear cassettes with in-house screen-printed
labels, held in a case with double-sided reversible pro-printed j-card,
each with a one-of-a-kind Land camera photograph taken by band member
S.Turley with tracklisting handwritten on back, held in a sewn fabric
sleeve. Limited to 33.

WITH AN OUT-OF-PRINT DEBUT CASSETTE [GOLD, DIGITALIS LTD.] UNDER THEIR ASTEROID BELT (AND A DOUBLE-LP WAITING IN THE WINGS), PLANETS AROUND THE SUN EMERGE FROM THEIR PSYCHIC SABBATICAL TO PRESENT THE TOWER CASSETTE. SELECTED FROM NEARLY THREE YEARS OF DOCUMENTED EXPERIMENTATION, THESE FOUR TRACKS PLAY LIKE RADIO TRANSMISSIONS FROM EXTENDED TRIPS INTO A STARLESS VOID, RETURNING WITH THE MESSAGE THAT PSYCHEDELIA ISN'T ALL PAISLEY AND PEPPERMINT SWIRL. THE CURIOUS PSILOCYBIN-NAVIGATING OPENER WINDS INTO THE RITUAL DOOM-MARCH OF LONG-TIME LIVE STAPLE "SLOW HORSE", HERE CAPTURED IN ALL ITS BLOWN-OUT LIVE-FI GLORY. A TAPE-FLIP REVEALS EVEN DARKER ROADS AHEAD: WAILING ECSTATICS PULLED SUBTERRANEAN, SURFACING FOR AIR TO THE OBEAHICALLY-WARPED INNER-GROOVES OF A POSSESSED BLACK ARK DUBPLATE. THE TAPE RUNS OUT ON AN ORGAN-AND-WAH-PEDAL-STOMPING FREE-PSYCH JAM, AMBIENTLY RECORDED AMONGST THE BLIPS AND WHIRS OF THE SPACE VESSEL'S ELECTRONICS RUNNING ON ZERO-GRAVITY AUTOPILOT. A MIXTAPE FOR YOUR NEXT TRIP ALONG INNERSPACE HIGHWAYS, TOWER IS STRICTLY LIMITED TO 45 HAND-NUMBERED HOME-DUBBED BLACK FOIL CASSETTES, PACKAGED IN FULL-COLOR PRO-PRINTED HEAVY STOCK J-CARDS IN NORELCO CASE.

ORIGINALLY PRESSED AS AN EXTREMELY-LIMITED (150 COPIES) TOUR-ONLY VINYL SPLIT 12" BACK IN JUNE 2009 AND LONG OUT-OF-PRINT, TRAVEL LIGHT MADE A BRIEF RETURN TO CIRCULATION LAST MONTH TO COMMEMORATE A SINGLE WHITE LIGHT REUNION SHOW IN PORTLAND, ME. IT REMAINS A DOCUMENT OF TWO OF L'ANIMAUX'S ORIGINAL FLAGSHIP BANDS DEEP WITHIN TRANSITORY PHASES THAT HAVE--FOR THE MOMENT--FOUND SOME RESOLUTION IN THE REALMS OF PLANETS AROUND THE SUN, HERBCRAFT, AND ENDLESS CAVERNS. HOME-DUBBED NEEDLE-DROP BOOTLEG-STYLE DIRECT FROM THE ORIGINAL VINYL PRESSING, TRAVEL LIGHT IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME TO THE WORLD AT LARGE IN THIS SMALL LIMITED CHROME CASSETTE EDITION.

"[White Light's "We Do True"] somehow manages to capture everything that was great about the golden age of American underground rock: noisy guitars, great melodies, and effortless, disaffected cool. ... Ian Paige is a hell of a songwriter and “We Do True” is one of the best songs I’ve heard this year." - FOXY DIGITALIS

"On "Crutches" [Cursillistas] invoke the spirits of Hapshash or Quintessence, Bells and chants echoing over spacey backing... Centrepiece of side A is "That Great Stone", a glorious example of modern Psychedelia, drifting, spacious and very special, the track containing an ambience that is hard to pin down but beautiful to experience, the guitar flourishes adding depth to the piece. Following on, the music descends into a deep-rooted drone as "Rewa Dokpa" re-wires your soul, the music as cleansing as a mountain spring, just lie back and soak it up. Having recovered sufficiently to turn the disc over, White Light immediately re-align the senses with their particular brand of Psychedelia, the Hapshash vibe in full effect again as "The Root Of All Evil" guides us into their world. On "Five Horses" a mellow bass groove ushers us into a smoky woodland grove, Guitar, Banjo and Percussion weaving together to create a silken tapestry of wonder, possibly my favourite track on the LP." - TERRASCOPE

"A stunning
navigation of druggy Matthew Valentine/Spectrasound styled psychedelic
folk, with a thick smoke of F/X masking some fantastic rural rock that
at points sounds like a 90s underground take on Skip Spence’s Oar or a
Dead bootleg on Majora. Either way this is a solid winner.
Recommended" - David Keenan

"From the moment this one kicks off it's obvious we are dealing with
some blissed out, bonged to the eyeballs, psych-rock of the highest
calibre. Real loose, nicely crafted and suitably drifty in it's
approach 'Discovers the Bitter Water of Agartha' is an all out San
Francisco style, counter culture aping hippy rock record." - A Norman Records Recommendation.

"The
nearly 10 minute epic resonates with beauty throughout. Liquid guitars
fill every open space of the mind with merriment and wonder. It's like
hearing Christmas in space." - Get Off The Coast (review of "Sensei
Deprivation II [Guitars In The Sun]")

"Matt Lajoie (Cursillistas, Herbcraft, Planets Around the Sun) is on an even spacier tip than his other musics with his Endless Caverns
project. This is some real nice echoing going on in between my two
headphones, hollowing out my skull and replacing it with one of these
endless caverns. Just a bit of water trickling through, just enough to
keep me and all the new inhabitants of my new head-space alive and
well." - Friendship Bracelet

THE 20-MINUTE "CHAKRA LEDGE" WAS COMPOSED AND PERFORMED AS A LIVE SOUNDTRACK TO THE MARCH 5TH SUNSET IN PORTLAND, ME. THE EVER-MORPHING 32-SECOND RECORDING LOOP WAS PROJECTED OUT OF A 4TH-STOREY WINDOW TO MIX WITH THE STREET SOUNDS BELOW, AND THIS RECORDING CAPTURES THE SOUNDS OF BOTH SIDES OF THE WINDOW. A DRONE MEANT TO SHAKE THE AURA FREE FROM THE BODY. PACKAGING AND HAND-PAINTING BY CABIN FLOOR ESOTERICA; INSERT PHOTO BY ALICIA SAMPSON.

Endless Caverns - Chakra Ledge (Excerpt) by Cabin Floor Esoterica"The buzz of the city is slowly wrapped with the humming body tones of the seven major chakras amplified. Percussion, dilruba, trumpet, heartbeat, vocals, electric guitars and bells join in a mass of energies. Sky high night jams for the sidewalk crowd recorded this past spring by Matt Lajoie (Herbcraft, Cursillistas, etc.) at the Building of Song in Portland, ME. A dense journey through echoing sea port howls and shaken soul tremours. Program repeats on Side B. In an edition of 75 hand-painted tapes with an insert in a sewn fabric pouch." - Cabin Floor Esoterica.

LTFR 024: TEMPERA // ENDLESS CAVERNS: ESTRANGED MANEFORMAT: CS [C-40] // EDITION: 45 // RELEASED: 11.09.10
TWO IMPROVISATIONAL PORTLAND ACTS PAY TRIBUTE TO A FAVORITE SPOT IN THE LOCAL UNDERGROUND SCENE: STRANGE MAINE. THIS USED RECORD/TAPE/BOOK/CURIO SHOP BY DAY TAKES ON THE OCCASIONAL TRANSFORMATION INTO THE MOST FREEWHEELING VENUE IN TOWN, AND IS THE SITE OF SOME OF THE GREATEST LIVE SETS WE AT THE L'ANIMAUX CAMP HAVE EVER WITNESSED. ON THIS TAPE, TEMPERA DROPS THEIR FIRST NEW RELEASE SINCE 2009'S STELLAR SELF-TITLED 12"; THIS 19-MINUTE SESSION WAS RECORDED LIVE IN MAY 2010 AND WAS PERFORMED USING JUST TWO MICROPHONES AND MORE DELAY/ECHO/LOOP PEDALS THAN BAND MEMBERS. THE RESULT IS OF AN ENVIABLE SUBTLETY, THE SOURCE WHISPERS AND WHISTLES BENT TO UNIMAGINABLE ANGLES AND LENGTHS UNTIL ONLY SPECTERS REMAIN. ENDLESS CAVERNS' CONTRIBUTION FINDS WHISPS OF CRACKLY ELECTRIC GUITAR LEADS MINGLING WITH DUB-INSPIRED BASS, VOCALS, AND PERCUSSION, ALL STRETCHED OUT IN A HALLUCINATORY TIME-ZONE WHERE EACH TWEAK IN THE CHAIN ADDS A NEW LAYER OF HAZE TO YOUR ALREADY-CLOUDY VISION. HAND-LABELED OPAQUE BLOOD-RED TAPES IN NORELCO CASE, WITH PRO-PRINTED FULL-COLOR J-CARDS HAND-NUMBERED TO 45.

FIT066: HERBCRAFT: PAPERS

FORMAT: CS [C-43] // EDITION: 100 // LABEL: FUCK-IT TAPES THIS 43-MINUTE CASSETTE COMPILES PREVIOUSLY-UNRELEASED MATERIAL RECORDED BETWEEN THE DISCOVERS...AGARTHA LP AND THE FIRST LIVE BAND PERFORMANCES. INCLUDES LIVE REHEARSAL TAPE VERSIONS OF TWO SONGS FROM THE LP, PLUS FIVE BRAND-NEW SONGS AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY ON THIS TAPE. RECORDED AT NEW WYRD 33, FEBRUARY-MARCH 2010, WITH IAN PAIGE [WHITE LIGHT, PLANETS AROUND THE SUN, CURSILLISTAS LIVE BAND] PROVIDING EXTRA GUITAR DIMENSIONS ON A MAJORITY OF THE TAPE. COVER ART BY JEREMY EARL.

"The vibe here is a little hazier than on their killer LP, with a cool basement take on west coast psych ala The Dead, Quicksilver et al updated with COM style raga moves and a 90s underground ‘sound’. Highly recommended!" - David Keenan/Volcanic Tongue.

"Whiles Papers may not have the deep seated back story that underpinned Discovers The Bitter World [sic] Of Agartha, it shares its same burnt vibe of 70's psych-folk indulgence that first drew us into Lajoie's world of haze and caverns. The tape is a mixture of five new and two live, rehearsal tunes all imbued with Herbcraft's haunted, spirit shaking nuance." - Raven Sings the Blues.

"The always rad folks over at Woodsist/Fuck-It Tapes sent over these amazing jams from Herbcraft earlier. [...] Just go ahead and hit play so you can slip into an ambient bliss that you may never want to leave." - Get Off The Coast.

"[P]erfectly meandering slow guitar explorations into the depths of folk music, informed by his peers' efforts from the 70s till this day." - nofearofpop."[Herbcraft's] vertiginous psych-folk freakouts are exactly the kind of thing one might hope to stumble upon while wandering the forest alone." - Altered Zones.